Maynard James Keenan Quotes

If you come across an American artist right now who has no political opinions or is afraid of talking politics, be very concerned.

If artists do see fields blue they are deranged, and should go to an asylum. If they only pretend to see them blue, they are criminals and should go to prison.

We as artists cannot be politicians. We as artists can only be truth-tellers.

You really can't be a good artist if you can't say what you really feel. And people may be offended, but, you know, that's how you feel, and that is your right, and that is your gift as well.

The people I am afraid of are the ones who look for tendentiousness between the lines and are determined to see me as either liberal or conservative. I am neither liberal, nor conservative, nor gradualist, nor monk, nor indifferentist. I would like to be a free artist and nothing else, and I regret God has not given me the strength to be one.

One of the things I love about doing things that are creative is that I feel like it's my right as an artist not to be affected by the reactions of those people that are going to hear my songs.

Every artist, every scientist, every writer must decide now where he stands. The artist must take sides. He must elect to fight for freedom or for slavery. I have made my choice. I had no alternative.

Simply according artistic works the same protection as nonartistic works may not be sufficient to protect creativity. After all, the very essence of artistic expression is invention and artists necessarily draw on their own experience. But if the rules of liability are unclear, artists will not be able to know how much disguise is sufficient to protect their claims from the claims of those who may see themselves in the portrayals.

I kind of think that artists throughout history, poets throughout history have been criticized for sharing what's on people's minds and I don't think it's any different now.

To me, nothing is more vibrant than having the power to do something but not having the experience of knowing what's right and what's wrong.

I have no ethics when it comes to art. You just do what you can to make it as beautiful as you can.

It is very easy to make clear what you want a film to say, but I did not wish to engage in overt propaganda, even for the right cause. I wanted to create an experience through the films, something where people could have the freedom of their own response to them.

I would make a film with a political point of view if I agreed with it, and even, perhaps, if I didn't.

I am not brave enough to not pay my income tax and risk going to jail. But I can say rather freely what I want to say with my art.

As an artist, I can't be responsible for how people interpret material.

I'm not sure if it's good to have freedom or not. I'm really confused now.

It's easy to get into the grey zone [of ethics].

I do not believe that any work of art can help but be diminished by its adherence at any cost to a political program ... and not for any other reason than that there is no political program -- any more than there is a theory of tragedy -- which can encompass the complexities of real life.

Everybody is grappling with their own moral compass, and that needle, like any needle, can't just stick. It's always floating a little bit, and depending on where you're standing, it's hard to read.

I think that's the great thing about all 'Black Mirror' episodes - it really leaves you with this feeling of not knowing how to feel.

I don't think there's a morally perfect way to do anything in life, but I'm not a filmmaker who tries to hide my mess.

In a gray area, you don't have to provide an answer. And I don't want to. I don't want to make a comedy that's like, well, here's the answer. I don't want to make a comedy that's like, this is how to be a Muslim.

People might look at you a bit funny, but it's okay. Artists are allowed to be a bit different.

Those of us who work in the arts know that depiction is not endorsement. If it was, no artist would be able to paint inhumane practices, no author could write about them, and no filmmaker could delve into the thorny subjects of our time.

The time-honored role of the artist [is] to speak truth to power.